2015.09.21 - Celestial Radio
Late afternoon, and a small corner of the square has been roped off since just after dawn. By now the press have gone, the crowds died down, and the first responders have all left. Now, the scene has been in the hands of SFPD's Special Investigations for a few hours, and this one's a doozy. Someone reported a commotion in one of the chocolate shops here, and the beat cops who responded spooked someone--or something--that had broken in during the night. The culprit had fled, and they had been just in time to save a victim who would not have lasted much longer. A college student, she had been missing for a week. The investigators had begun to lose hope, but here she was. Someone had tied her up and, apparently, been force-feeding her chocolate... and then drinking her blood by mixing it up in a cocktail shaker with fine liqueurs. The whole thing was bizarre, macabre, and exactly the sort of disturbing crap that Karrin Murphy tends to be called in to deal with. Now, the crime scene is nearly wrapped, but the cleanup crews haven't arrived yet. And Dean is there! Though he's in a suit, and he looks neat and well-groomed, charming and clean-cut. As he can look when he wants to. He doesn't particularly *like* suits, but he'll use them like any other tool to get what he wants. And this? This is something he's been following. Between the business in Beacon Hills and here in San Francisco, it's a lot to keep track of, especially without Sammy organizing everything on his laptop and giving that familiar, disapproving bitchface that he does. Poor Sammy. Dean manages to get some good, solid information -- much of which he'd already determined from other investigation -- and into the scene. It's his typical way of doing things. This ain't his first rodeo. But it's easiest since it's so late in the proverbial day. Not as many people around to question him being there. While Rudolph and Stallings have taken care of the scene and gotten what they can, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy is a little late to the scene. Technically, she doesn't need to be there at all, as she trusts her detectives to bring her the information she needs without babysitting. However, she's been following the trail of a few vampires lately and the APB on someone drinking the poor student's blood certainly caught Murph's attention. She's dressed in her usual business suit, blonde hair pulled back into a tail as she approaches the scene, nodding to everyone she knows. It's only when she spots Dean there that her eyes narrow. While many others may take his appearance at face value, she's protective of her scene and wary of newcomers. Striding up to Dean purposefully with all the authority her five foot even frame musters, she clears her throat. "Care to tell me what you're doing at my crime scene?" she asks, permeating a unmistakeable aura of 'takes no crap.' As the various personnel mill about the scene, a plain-looking man in a rumpled coat emerges from around a nearby building and begins walking toward the others. He tries to catch Dean's eye, raising a hand to wave slightly, without drawing Karrin's attention, but despite looking so ordinary, he manages to stick out like a sore thumb. Clearly, he lacks Dean's talent for blending in, and while Karrin's attitude is "takes no crap," his looks more like "trying not to step on anything breakable." Dean looks Karrin up and down. Mainly down, being a whole foot shorter than him. Really, he hates being around cops. The less, the better -- the less he has to talk to them, the better. So when he's engaged, he puts on his best boyish grin. "If I told you it's classified, I'll bet you're the kinda go-getter that'd keep until you dug it out, am I right?" Dean's freight train of charisma is slightly slowed by the distracting Castiel. Oh man! Cas being there is not going to help, he's pretty sure. Unless he can do some kinda angel woogie mojo and make everyone buy Dean's story. Maybe he has hidden secret angelpowers that help with disguises that aren't the most airtight under scrutiny. Karrin studies Dean, taking in his suit, his boyish grin and frowns. She's used to people trying to talk circles around her. "No, I'm the sort of police officer that does her job and follows procedure and unless you've got something to prove you're meant to be here, then you can get your footprints off of my crime scene." Of course, Karrin doesn't always follow procedure - it's hard when trying to take care of supernatural crimes in a very normal mortal police world - but she doesn't know Dean and doesn't know his deal. As far as she's concerned, he's another cocky officer muscling into her case because while it may not be easy to solve, it's got some press now. Noticing Castiel approaching toward the crime scene, she frowns. Her chin jerks in the angel's direction and then she looks back to Dean. "Friend of yours?" Once he's spotted, Castiel gives up on his poor attempt at sneaking and just approaches the other two. His arms held in that stiff, awkward manner of his at his sides, he arrives and opens his mouth as if about to say something in greeting, but then he stops. Dean, he remembers, sometimes uses aliases, and he doesn't want to blow Dean's cover! So, instead, he says awkwardly, "Officers. I... hope everything is... going well?" Dean raises a hand to sort of stiffly wave at Cas. He's holding his breath until Cas actually seems to maintain his cover. "Yeah, actually..." The charming act wasn't working too well, so he changes tactics. Now he's a little more serious. Still approachable. Still charmingly boyish, in his way. "Okay. This is gonna sound crazy. This doesn't go between the three of us, but this guy? Special consultant. Like he's tuned in on celestial radio or somethin'. I got no intention of gettin' in your way, but I got orders just like you do. I mean...they all think we're crazy, right? Magic and hoodoo and whatever. But I still got a job to do, just like you do. I'll be in and out, stay outta your guys' way." Karrin looks at Castiel, then looks at Dean and then back to Castiel. She's trying to figure out if this guy is on the level or not. The awkward nature of the trench coated man versus the boyish - almost arrogant - mannerisms of Dean paint quite a picture. "A special consultant," she repeats, her tone incredibly neutral. It's hard to tell if she's buying his story or not. "As far as I know, SI is the only department in San Francisco that deals with this sort of thing," she tells him. "And despite the teachings of Mulder and Scully, the FBI wouldn't hire a consultant like him." Crossing her arms, she looks up at Dean authoritatively - it's hard to imagine how she accomplishes it, but she somehow manages. "So, who are you working for, exactly, Detective...." she trails off, letting him fill in the blanks. She looks over at the crime scene toward where Stallings is taking pictures of chocolate and blood splatters and takes a deep breath. Then, she turns away from Dean toward Castiel, looking straight at the angel - attempting to meet his eyes. If he's some sort of wizard and has a soul gaze, he'll turn his eyes. She knows that."Is what he's saying the truth, sir?" Castiel speaks up in his usual truthful manner, offering, "I wasn't hired. I'm not actually paid for what I do, but... De--the offi--the detective--is essentially correct. I perceive celestial signals that compel me to go and render aid where I am able." He offers a tight smile, less awkward than it would have been a month ago but still not quite natural, either. He falls quiet for a moment, meeting Karrin's eyes, and nothing magical happens. They each probably gain some measure of the other: He's either one of the most open and sincere people she's ever "read," or he's a master of deceptive body language. In answer to her question, he says, "What he says is essentially true. He's here to do his job. I'm here to help. And there are dangers neither of you know, which I've been sent to warn you about." "Young," Dean answers, prompted for his name, "and I didn't say I was from San Fran." He grins again, so easily. It takes a lot more to ruffle the feathers of Dean Winchester. "Judging a little by the dust jacket, aren't we?" But when the focus turns to Cas, once eyes are off him, Dean tries to pantomime some sort of...spell? Some kind of wizard junk? He's hoping that Cas knows what he's trying to do. Do your angel mojo! He can't keep this up indefinitely, especially with certain angels wandering around sticking out like sore thumbs! Then again, maybe he won't have to. When Castiel says what he does, Dean's business face replaces everything else. His brow lowers, eyes focus. "Dangers." Definitely concentrating. All his attention on this, right now. After the last big event, he knows that nothing else is going to have the same priority. "Go on." As Karrin focuses on Castiel, her furrowed brow changes just slightly. It's not exactly that she believes Castiel more now, but when she meets his eyes and he doesn't turn them away, that makes her all the more curious. Her own nature may be gleaned - her stubbornness and her attempts to make sense of so many things that simply do not in order to protect the people of her new city. His assessment of the situation is met with a sigh. She puts her hands on her hips, pushing back her own jacket. Her badge and her gun are clipped there, but she's not going for either. It's just a frustrated gesture. "So, you're trying to tell me you're able to hear things from angels and they tell you things." It's not exactly like she believes him to be crazy, but she doesn't not believe him to be crazy. To Dean, she shakes her head. "Yeah, well, you're expecting to get information out of my crime scene when all the information you've given me is that you're a Detective Young from some unknown agency that totes around a human celestial radio that gives you warnings. Tell me, would you just say, 'welcome to the crime scene, detective, may I get you a gift bag while you're here?'" However, Dean's sudden shift in demeanor also causes her to narrow her eyes, her shoulders tense. "Yes," Castiel answers Karrin quite readily, his expression one of slight relief. Misreading her skepticism, he takes this for understanding. "I hear angels all the time. We communicate constantly along celestial frequencies. And at present we're dealing with the fallout of the recent magical shake-up." Which leads him to look to Dean. "The danger is, creatures from Faerie have begun to filter out through the Nevernever and onto Earth. I believe the culprit of this particular crime to be a variation on the Baobhan Sidhe, a variety of fairy that is where banshees take their original name. The less troubling of them are seductresses who feed on the passions of their victims. Others, more malevolent, actually drink human blood and will kill their victims." Dean listens, and he listens carefully. Karrin's proddings go unanswered as Castiel divulges his information, which puts a sour face on the elder Winchester brother. He never really liked that stuff. It's just so...ugly, in such a primal way. The Old World was known for its brutal legends, and unfortunately he knows all too well that so many of them were based on real truth. He's fought plenty. Put an end to some. "Baobhan Sidhe," Dean repeats, actually very well. He may give the impression of kind of a dope sometimes, and he's definitely not refined or sophisticated, but he clearly knows his stuff...which may add a little more credence to his cover story. "Look, uh, sorry Detective...?" Turning to Karrin, he uses her same tactic on her. "I gotta get on this. Listen...if you wanna compare notes later, there's a nice bar in the Haight. Bear and Staff? I think?" His eyes go to Cas for some confirmation on this, then back to her. "I'll be there tonight. Drinks on me." Grinning again, Dean moves off and waves over his shoulder. With a wink, of course. It's that Winchester charm. At Castiel's quick relief at her sarcasm, Karrin can only tilt her head a bit, confused and - despite herself - slightly amused. She glances over toward Dean as she listens to Castiel until he says the words 'NeverNever'. That's something she's heard Dresden say he was looking into. "Wait, the NeverNever?" Suddenly, Castiel isn't an amusing maybe crazy person to Karrin any more. "Dresden described that to me as basically bad Halloween every night. And you're saying they're coming here?" Her eyes flick back to the crime scene, worry evident on her face. A fist clenches just slightly as she mutters, "Dammit, Dresden." As Dean looks over at her, she replies, briskly, "Lieutenant. Murphy." She has no aliases and she'll be easy to look up should Dean wish to do so. She crosses her arms as she walks away, not quite answering him. But, he seems to know what's going on and is at least willing to talk to her, something Harry has been more reluctant to do. "Maybe I'll see you there," she calls after him as he walks, rolling her eyes at the wink. She's still Karrin Murphy and Winchester charm has quite a lot to work through to get through her thick skin. With a pronounced sigh, she glances over to Castiel. "Is he always like that?" "Usually," Castiel's voice says, but when Murphy looks for him, he's vanished. Curiously, as if far in the distance, she'll catch a sound not at all unlike the fluttering wings of a very large bird...